It's not so much the weather itself that I am dreading, it's what comes with it. My fear: James will be stuck indoors staring at the same four walls for the next five months. Or worse, the TV...oh how he loves his shows. With the economy, I also want to figure out things to do with little or no money.
C'mon dear reader gimme what ya got! I thought this would be fun. Swapping ideas on what to do with kiddos. If you have kids leave a comment and give an idea of what fun things you do or did that doesn't cost a whole lot of money. If you don't have kids, what did you do for fun when you were little? Fun little games? Creative craft projects? Places to go? Fun things to pass the time! Then if you are looking for ideas check out the comments section right under this post! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
A couple things we do for free or practically:
~We live in a very small town, we do have a Walmart though. If we are itching to get out of the house and don't have much gas to go far we will go to Walmart and walk around. We look at the fish and plants, check out the toys and what not.
~Whip out the paints. If James is in a crafty mood I plop him in his highchair and hand him a paint brush. I got these blank white cards that come with envelopes in the craft section at Walmart. Pretty cheap, around $5.00 and you get a lot. I have James paint, color, or stick stickers on them and save them for when we need a birthday or other greeting card.
Please share your ideas!
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21 comments:
If you've got a driveway or something. Get some chalk and have some fun drawing on the driveway, simply wash away with water after that :)
Happy WW!
you can do arts and craft.. i'll be posting some of it my my blog soon, so hope you visit.. for now, please Please Visit my entry Little J with the witches here and kids at the party here
2nd part of Halloween Trick or treat at Rockwell
I'll get back to you with the arts and craft ok?
Happy WW! You have some good ideas. I always believe in basic things like the library and books. YES WE CAN!
I invite your blog readers to see America's First Family!
peace, Villager
Happy WW! My KIds and I play indoor games such as board games and do projects from the likes of Art attacks!
My Life in this Wonderful World
Back to basics I guess... books, music, drawing, painting... depends on what he'll sit still for really. Nice photo by the way.
nice photo, really christmas is fast approaching.Happy WW! thnks for dropping by.
We would love some snow! But not much of a chance here.
Making xmas cookies and trying the first ones with a cup of hot chocolate.
Painting - handprints are always fun. LOL.
Dance with the music.
Library used to be the place we went at any weather. My girls loved books at any age and the kids they met there.
Take a big box and make a play house out of it. Give you a chance to be crafty, James a little hide out and you neat pictures seeing him having fun.
Do you need more ideas?
Another one of mine will be starting potty training. lol
Beautiful shot of the snow but I understand the need to entertain the young ones stuck inside. My daughter is grown but crafts and painting were always good with her. You can make paper icicles and have him look outside the windows at frost and tell him that's what you are trying to make it look like with cut outs. You can make homemade play dough (it's easy) and make cities with it. Making Playdough is an online site with a recipe which looks similar to what we made when my daughter was young and it has a lot of other activities. Good luck.
Hi Bridget - here are some ideas for you!
When Christian was about James' age I started him in a tumbling class. It did cost money but if you check with community education in your area I bet you might find something that's not too expensive.
Also check with ECFE in your school district. In my school district they have free events for little ones about once a month even if you are not enrolled in a regular ECFE class.
Join an ECFE class if you can - fees are based on your income so its pretty affordable.
Make a fort. If James has a little play table or you have a card table, just throw a blanket over it and put some toys and pillows in there - my kids love that!
Get a large but shallow Rubbermaid-type container and fill it with assorted beans (or feed corn works too but beans are more colorful) and make in Indoor "Sandbox". If you don't have sandtoys, just use things from your kitchen. It can be a bit messy but provided hours of fun for Christian! They also love soapy water in a similar container with little toys - its fun to wash trucks and little toys. (Also messy but its fun!)
Set James at the table and squirt shaving cream on the table. Let hime draw in the shaving cream.
Make your own toys - here are two we learned at an ECFE class. 1) Fill a water or soda bottle with water and baby oil (1/2 & 1/2) and then put glitter, sequins, pompoms, etc in it. Glue the top on and its fun to watch the items float around inside. And 2) take a coffee or hot chocolate can and cover the outside with wrapping paper, grocery bag & stickers, contact paper, etc and then cut a slot in the top of it. Use tops of water, soda and juice bottles to drop in and listen to the different sounds they make. When Christian got a bit older, I put stickers on the bottle tops to make a matching game (like Memory).
Many of the libraries also have passes for local museums and events that you can check out like a book. i think they go fast so its something to plan a bit for but going to the zoo or the Children's Museum is a lot of fun (though they require a bit of gas for you to get there. But see if they have something closer to home for you.)
Make a snowman when the snow does show up!
Wow this is a very long comment but I hope these ideas help you!!
Michelle
I just thought of a couple more things. Check your local churches to see if the have a Musikgarten or Kindermusic class. I haven't done these classes personally but I've heard great things about them and being they are church affiliated I would guess they're not to expensive.
Take a large piece of paper or cut open a few grocery bags and tape them together. Draw a race track or a little city on it and let James drive his little cars on it.
Michelle
I always told my husband that I can live anywhere as long as there's a walmart in that city or town.
Here's my entry. Thanks!
We do the Walmart thing too!! LOL!
Here we like to bake a lot in the Winter. So I let them help with baking bread or stirring or things like that.
We also do holiday craft projects. Glue and Scissors are Izzy's favorite thing and will occupy her for hours.
I like the picture, but not so much the Wal-Mart. :)
I worked at one for nine years, so please forgive me.
Hi.
I don't have kids yet so I am not sure I can help all that much but I love your idea of painting and drawing. The arts are a great thing for children... creativity is so important for development. Perhaps you can find a good children's crafty book and find other things you can make together with him?
Thanks so much for stopping by my blog. Hope you visit again soon!
:) Robin
cinnamon & honey
We love board games and 1000+ piece puzzles. Of course, Wii Fit gets us off our butts!
I used to have one of those in my yard and it was one of my favorite things to take photos of after a snowstorm. Fantastic shot!
Thank you for your compliments on my photo and for visiting. Have a great day!
Well, I just wrote a review and actually talked about the new Wii Music. The Wii keeps the kids up, occupied and happy. I know it's expensive, so it's really not practical unless you happen to get one from Santa, but he played Wii Music for an hour without once getting bored. That right there is priceless...
Here's the review if you're interested
One thing we do for free that saves my life is Mother Goose time at the local Library! I think most libraries do it... check it out!
Sometimes we go to the mall play area... although that freaks me out a little with germs and creepy men!
My kids love painting, making paper crafts, cooking and moon sand. We find the moon sand when it is on clearance or they put it on their wish lists for birthdays, christmas, etc.
The kids and I liked playing board games or cards. But my favorite times, as weird as it may sound, are the times on Sundays, after church we'd come home, I'd fix lunch and we'd pull out the sofa bed, all climb on and eat in bed while watching a movie. When we were done eating we still watched the movie, we just snuggled. I loved those afternoons.
Love all the ideas! I will have to try these. Cooper also loves to fingerpaint with vanilla pudding, with food coloring in it. Then I have no worries about him eating it.
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